The restaurant has a faded print of an Eleanor Widmer review from years back, but the former Reader critic stopped well short of raving. The meat at Abbey’s can speak up for itself, though it doesn’t have much to say.

Where’s the smokey flavor?

The inferior sauce tastes more like canned spaghetti slop than anything appropriate to ribs, pulled pork, and brisket.

Pricing feels $2 too high across the board, though the generous portions ensure leftovers.

This barely even qualifies as barbecue. More like boiled meat served to the soldiers of some ancient army during a forced march through perilous winter in hostile territories.

The best thing that Abbey’s Real Texas BBQ has going for it is the toasted hamburger bun smeared in garlicky oil that comes on the side of the combination plates. Made into a sandwich, the bland meat drags the bread down to its level, sapping away the deliciousness like an antisocial dance partner dragging her heels through an entire foxtrot.

The baked beans are okay, but one acceptable side can not elevate sub-par barbecue (sub-parbecue?!), and this Abbey’s is certainly that.

On a bright note, the cooler’s stocked with the delicious Texan beer, Shiner Bock. Also, the owner, Matt, is a genuinely nice guy who marches around the Country Music Television-styled dining room making friendly with the customers and boasting of the restau’s thirty-year tenure with justifiable pride.

Not that such things excuse thoroughly unenjoyable meat and an overall sloppiness of service and decor. If anything, little niceties call more attention to the many faults.

If there’s a lesson in this, it’s that it’s never okay to call yourself the best. Earn the designation first, and then let someone else assign it.

Comments

It's a shame to have Mr. Ian Pike call himself a food critic while discrediting a 32 year old establishment of its awards that have been legitimately won over its time . I take pride in knowing one of the late iconic Food Critics named Eleanor Widmer , who would run circles around PUNKS like IAN PIKE !!! To set the record straight , Abbeys BBQ never boasted anything without earning it thru hard work and credible agencies that independently posted their opinions to the public either via magazines , such as the Reader , TV or radio. For your information Mr. Pike , the late Eleanor Widmer included Abbeys Texas BBQ on her hall of fame paper back book , which you probably are clueless back in the days when you were still in diapers . For you to take away a true and an honorable review by Eleanor Widmer , who used to converse with me on numerous occasions via phone and in person , about ABBEYS TEXAS BBQ is a vengeful , biased , hateful , and outright vicious act by a Scum Bag so called writer like you . Shame on you !! Shame on you for targeting a local family run business , and attacking them unmercifully for no reason other than to please your EGO . I am very upset , and will do anything to defend my establishment and the facts about my family's livelihood , which is being threatened dangerously by a horrific creature , who belongs in a cage . I will accept a constructive criticism , especially from a food critic , but to be mimicked , mocked , discredited and attacked for no reason is beyond my imagination. You should stop writing reviews about restaurants if your intentions are to turn it into a soap opera or a sitcom . It's ok to be honest and candid about your review , but to be demeaning , mean spirited and not factual is a total farce and wrong. I hope your superiors see my comments and address this issue in a professional manner to stop JERKS like you from tormenting innocent people and families , who work hard for their money !!! I hope you learn from this experience , and I vehemently ask you to stop playing with people's lives and focus on the content . God bless you .

Where are you hiding Mr. IAN PIKE the biggest A- hole on earth . Thank you Mike and Tammy for your support . Let's start a petition to oust this Moron and scum bag from this beautiful Magazine . Please tell anyone that's not read IAN PIKE'S nasty and slanderous article against an innocent family's operation at Abbeys BBQ MIRAMAR to write a comment against this jerk and ask The Reader to Fire his butt immediately !! Thanks again for your support and I assure you we will continue to hammer this Goofball , IAN PIKE , via commentary or possible legal action !!! Thank you Trevor Stevens !! Abbeys loves you more and will serve you a great sandwich when you show up !

It truly shocks me when I see scum such as this "IAN PIKE" go out of his way to trash a local family establishment who has been in business for 30 years. I have a question for you Ian, do you even know what BBQ is or even tastes like? Judging by your idiotic explanation of Abbey's Real Texas BBQ I think not. I guess smoking meats such as "Brisket" or "Pork Shoulder" for hours on end is not BBQ according to the genius "IAN PIKE". I wonder have you ever been to Texas? Have you ever owned a business for that matter? Probably not cause you are too busy working part time as a "FOOD CRITIC" and probably sitting at home in your underwear wondering where your life has taken you and realized you hate your own life so much that you have to take it out on a beautiful business such as ABBEY'S Real Texas BBQ. Buddy News Flash for ya...YOU DON'T KNOW A THING ABOUT GOOD BBQ!!!! You are too busy getting paid off by the other establishments to trash a place like this. Keep hiding behind your computer and trashing people and see how far that gets you. As for me I will enjoy Abbey's delicious BBQ for the rest of my life. Have a wonderful day in your mediocre life. :)

Wow after reading this article I was in complete shock because this man (so the least to say a "man" and rather a coward) wrote such a terrible review on an incredible establishment. Ian Pike, not only are you a moron for targetting a wonderful family who has worked their tails off to be at the point they are in, but you are also an imbecile for berading them. If you had the slightest clue as to what REAL TEXAS BBQ IS...than you would know that Abbey's always does it right and always has. I mean why else have they been there for 30+ years. All of their meats are smoked for many hours and their sauce is to die for. Matt and Athena are wonderful to be around and so are all of the employees and for you to sit here and target them in your sarcastic manner shows the type of person you are. You obviously have nothing better to do than to put down a family owned business that has the best customers/service/food. Ian I truly hope you read all of these reviews because I have yet to see a single one agree with your article you worthless wanna-be food critic. After all of the awards I've seen in Abbey's and Food awards and you still have the nerve to speak of them so poorly and so sarcastically. Ian my friend, here's some advice...quit your job because you are almost as worthless being a food critic as you are being alive.

Ian Pike you just said at the very least you are a jerk I'd say thats the smartest thing you've said so far on this article, but even then you are incorrect. No actually at the very least you're a biased writer who was paid to write a horrible review which by the way has no proof what so ever. For the record ,idiot, the other review that you wrote on Abbey's Real Bar-B-Q makes you look like a walking contradiction because for your information Matt opened that one up originally himself and the owner now runs it the same way as Matt did with minumal differences. So in essence you are making fun of the very shop you were paid to write a good review about. You see you are the perfect example of what happens when you put a racist person behind a computer and some power to write an article. I've been eating bbq my whole entire life. I would never lie about food critiques because I am first and foremost a man of God, which by the way is someone you need in your life, so I would never lie about how somethng taste. If you are looking for an authentic Texas style BBQ resteraunt then the only one you can find in San Diego is THE ABBEY'S REAL TEXAS BBQ on MIRAMAR. In case anyone doubts that please feel free to stop by there and try them out they are located on Miramar Road behind Dennys.

This is Matt , Owner of Abbeys BBQ , demanding you to immediately remove these articles from the Reader asap or there will be legal ramifications and possible lawsuit for slandering our reputation and causing harm to our business . I'm giving you an opportunity to delete these articles and write an apology letter to all my supporters who gathered to decry your cowardly and inept review by an ugly PIG like you . Stop being a COWARD and step up , and put an end to your huge mistake before legal action will be taken against you and possibly your superiors !!!! We will not give up , and will continue to fight for our rights vehemently as Americans , which were abused by a low life named IAN PIKE . Burn in HELL !!!

This review seems more of a personal attack than a genuinely constructive negative review. If I were the owner of this restaurant, I'd be furious and insulted. There's nothing constructive about your review. Am I reading a sarcastic, negative review by an angry high school kid? I get you, you don't want to sugar coat anything. But there's nothing professional about being an absolute sarcastic brute with no morals.

"Abbey’s Real Texas BBQ makes bold moves, claiming “Best BBQ Brisket In San Diego” at the head of its website. Well, says who?"

Says who you ask? Ian, I just did a quick google search and I've found tons of awards for this restaurant. And if I'm remembering correctly, I'm sure their awards were plastered all over somewhere "with pride" as you say. Did you miss that during your visit there?

"The meat at Abbey’s can speak up for itself, though it doesn't have much to say."

I've used excuses like these back in high school for my writing assignments as an excuse to not write too much about something I don't know about. Hmm that makes sense...

"Where's the smokey flavor?"

Are you sure your taste buds are still working? Because the last time I ordered beef ribs and a bbq brisket sandwich, I tasted the smokey flavor perfectly...

"The inferior sauce tastes more like canned spaghetti slop"

Where on earth did you sample a canned spaghetti slop that's even remotely comparable to the sauce they offer? Whatever you've been eating lately is probably affecting your taste buds and your head...

"This barely even qualifies as barbecue."

haha wait, are you serious? If you can't categorize the obvious, what makes you think you're qualified to be a food critic?

"More like boiled meat served to the soldiers of some ancient army during a forced march through perilous winter in hostile territories."

You are literally just blabbing nonsense, filling up empty space to the review that you never even put thought into to begin with which we will see plenty more so lets keep going.

"...sapping away the deliciousness like an antisocial dance partner dragging her heels through an entire foxtrot."

More nonsense blabber, shocker! Your sarcasm is really starting to get old. On top of that, what kind of an example is that? Were you high when you wrote this? "dragging her heels through an entire foxtrot" Jesus Christ what are you on man!?

"overall sloppiness of service and decor"

Sloppy service? Where's your damn elaboration? Sloppy decor? I think you're missing the theme that they are trying to portray which isn't mind boggling at all... I felt like I was in Texas...

If there's a lesson for you, if you're going to give negative feedback, be more professional and cut down on the sarcasm. Sarcasm is entertaining to a certain extent, but there's a time and place for everything which I hope your mother taught you that am I correct?

Well, I had been considering returning there after my original dismay many years ago at the attempt to serve authentic (Northeast Texas-style) barbecue. But now that I see this not so well orchestrated assault on a legitimate reviewer's opinions about the fare offered, I will choose to pass, if for no other reason than I would not want to associate with such vituperative persons. And to the sanctimonious owner, if you are indeed the owner, shame on YOU for casting your business in such a vengeful light:
"We will not give up , and will continue to fight for our rights vehemently as Americans , which were abused by a low life named IAN PIKE . Burn in HELL !!!"
So reviewers have no rights, but you do. Look up the word "hypocrisy".
"Burn in HELL"??? Is that one of your recipes?

Hey, it's just a restaurant. Opinions, even varied ones, should be welcomed.
Thanks for making up my mind for me about giving you another try. I'm relatively certain I'm not the only one who will be avoiding this circus act.

Mr Duhbya , you are calling me a hypocrite ? Why don't you read Ian Pike's biased , sarcastic and vengeful commentary that has been lambasted by so many people . Yet you have the nerve to call me a hypocrite . But it takes one hypocrite , like you , to know one !!! Why don't you read my other commentaries about Ian Pike ?? I specifically indicated that I welcome a constructive criticism , but to be mocked , mimicked and degraded as a restaurant was way too harsh . This Jerk victimized our establishment to the point of him being hostile towards our restaurant , which by the way is our lively hood , NOT JUST A RESTAURANT . as you pointed out . So please continue to pass on , and eat your Tiramasu . Oh, by the way , Ian Pike created this circus act that you are so annoyed with . WE ARE DEFENDING OUR ESTABLISHMENT FROM SCRUPULOUS PEOPLE SUCH AS IAN PIKE . By the way can you a SHAME ON YOU shout out to IAN PIKE for the sarcastic language he used against us , and the ERRONEOUS facts that he accused us , such as Boiling our meat and Spaghetti Sloppy Sauce . What the hell are you taking about Mr. DUHBYA ????? Have a nice day sir and God bless you !!!

I don't eat tiramisu. If you knew Ms. Widmer as intimately as you say you did, you'd know that this was one of her taglines: "The tiramisu is to die for!" Obviously, I did read the review, and do appreciate your concern. However, the rallying of your troops to slay this perceived dragon seems to be a bit over the top. I am surprised by the amount of invective being cast toward Ian Pike. It does not speak well for you as a business owner to engage in such verbiage.

In any case Duhbya , you're not our worries , and nor are you the one that wrote that horrific commentary which was full of lies.. I'm sorry for using a strong language , but please put yourself in my shoes and then comment . Mr. IAN PIKE started this entire Circus for no reason without fully understanding the nature of his remarks , and the negative consequences it can have on any business , especially a small mom and pop operation. like ours . That's all we're talking here !!! But , I'LL succumb to your advise and refrain from future harsh language ! Are you happy now ??? Lol !!! Please visit us and I'LL treat you for a meal !! Thank you

Thank you, sir. I appreciate the gesture, and yes, I actually do understand your motivating factors. Have you been able to contact Mr. Pike? I'm betting that he would be willing to discuss this affair with you. I noticed that he had kind things to say about you in the article. Good luck to you!

Thank you Duhbya !! I appreciate your positive involvement in this matter . I am open to a mutual and friendly meeting with him anytime , and maybe you , him and I can have a delicious Texas BBQ at Abbeys to settle this issue peacefully . Hence , if he had nice things to say about me , he was either covering his hostile attack against my establishment or he meant it sincerely ! Not sure at all !!!! In any case , the door is open to close this ugly chapter and let's all move on amicably . Thank you again and God bless all those who came to Abbeys BBQ's corner to show their support , and that goes for you as well Duhbya , Lol !!! Btw, the late Eleanor Widmer's favorite word was " Darling ." She called me after I sent her a thank you card for writing a beautiful article on Abbeys Texas BBQ , which bewildered me to have received a phone call from this ICONIC and excellent food critic . From that point on , it started our casual friendship where we spoke sporadically on the phone and in person when I met her at the San Diego convention center where Abbeys Texas BBQ participated in donating food along with other restaurants for World Hunger relief . Finally , I was flattered , baffled , excited and tickled by her news that she had included Abbeys BBQ in her Hall Of Fame paper back Book ; wow, what an honor . God we miss her so much , adore her and love her !!! I'm sure her spirit is watching us , and I'm certain she'd be heartbroken to see one of her favorite restaurant that she handpicked in her book to be depicted so miserably . God rest her soul from all of us at Abbeys BBQ !!!!